The Noble Satyr
(Book One in the Roxton Trilogy)
Paris and London: 1745
With her grandfather dangerously ill,
seventeen-year-old Antonia Moran is left to fend for herself at the
flamboyant and licentious court of Louis XV at Versailles.
The Comte de Salvan, with his painted pock
marked face and penchant for virgins just out of the convent, sets his
sights on deflowering Antonia. To this end, Salvan cajoles the girl's dying
grandfather into signing a marriage contract between Antonia and the Vicomte
d’Ambert, Salvan’s opium addicted son. It will be a marriage in name only as
the Comte intends to make Antonia his “mistress with honor”.
To flee Versailles, Antonia resorts to forcing
the hand of her wealthy distant English cousin, the arrogant and enigmatic
Duke of Roxton, whose sexual exploits with the married beauties of Louis
XV’s Court are legion. Spirited, educated and very beautiful, Antonia then
risks everything to spend one night of passion with the Duke, believing she
can win his heart.
But the Duke cruelly rejects her and returns to
the arms of his latest mistress, sending Antonia to her grandmother in
England. But Antonia is determined to take control of her own life rather
than be forced into a loveless marriage with the Vicomte and makes plans to
flee to the relative obscurity of Venice.
Who then should re-enter her life but the Duke,
as enigmatic as ever, and not far behind him, the Vicomte d’Ambert, come to
England to claim his bride.
Will a weekend house party see the Comte de
Salvan’s plans triumph or will the Duke finally trust in love and prove
Antonia’s faith in him is not undeserving...
The Noble Satyr is a reworking of my
award-winning novel The Dangerous Game, with its original title and 25,000
extra words
that allows for a more developed emotional and sexual relationship between
Antonia and the Duke; and as such The Noble Satyr can be considered the definitive work.
The Noble Satyr is the prequel to The Midnight Marriage.
To read an excerpt: Salvan Plotting
Birthday Party
To view the family tree click here
